Thursday, May 2, 2024 Vol. 133 No. 31

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY NATHAN CARMODY

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN

FORT COLLINS FOCUS

CULT SPECIAL EDITION

Calling all student artists and photographers: Submit your artwork to The Collegian for a chance to be featured in a print edition! Email design@collegian.com for more information and the submission form.

Lory Student Center, Suite 118 Fort Collins, CO 80523

“Eye For An Eye Till We’re All Blind” 3x6 feet | Satin, cotton quilt batting, watercolor screen print

Historically, women have not been able to express anger without the fear of being labeled emotional, crazy or ugly. I have recently learned that anger isn’t a negative emotion but can be very constructive and healthy to experience. This piece was created as a way for me to process my own anger and grief from an emotionally neglectful and unfaithful relationship.

ARTWORK BY ANNA DE SOTO

This publication is not an official publication of Colorado State University, but is published by an independent corporation using the name ‘The Rocky Mountain Collegian’ pursuant to a license granted by CSU. Approximately 59% of Rocky Mountain Student Media Corp’s income is provided by the Associated Students of Colorado State University (ASCSU) for the purpose of fostering student careers post-college and greater campus awareness and engagement. The Rocky Mountain Collegian is a 4,000-circulation student-run newspaper intended as a public forum and is printed on paper made of 30% post-consumer waste. It publishes every Thursday during the regular fall and spring semesters. The Collegian publishes online Monday through Thursday. Corrections may be submitted to the editor in chief and will be printed as necessary on page two. The Collegian is a complimentary publication for the Fort Collins community. The first copy is free. Additional copies are 25 cents each.

Everybody makes mistakes, including us. If you encounter something in the paper you believe to be an error, please contact us at: copy@collegian.com.

Allie Seibel | Editor in Chief editor@collegian.com

Ivy Secrest | Content Managing Editor managingeditor@collegian.com

Lauren Pallemaerts | Executive Editor copy@collegian.com

Adah McMillan | Copy Chief copy@collegian.com

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Caden Proulx | Print Director design@collegian.com

TOP STORIES TOP STORIES

NEWS: ‘You see your child walking near a cliff’: Parents of former Grace Christian Church attendees speak out about cultlike tendencies PAGES 4-5

L&C: Colorado breweries are home to cult of specialty beer lovers PAGE 8

SPORTS: CSU Outlaws cult-ivate strong Ram spirit PAGE 11

SCIENCE: Psychology explains occurrences of alien abductions PAGE 12

A&E: ‘Rocky Horror’ cult following promises to take you on strange journey PAGE 18

OPINION: Greek life is a cult on CSU’s campus PAGE 23

PHOTO: ‘Don’t dream it, be it’: ‘Rocky Horror’ continues to define cult classics PAGES 14-15

FOCO EVENTS FOCO EVENTS

Foothills Symphonic Band presents “A Little Night Music” at CSU Griffin Concert Hall 7 p.m. May 3

Fort Carnage at Aggie Theatre

6 p.m. May 4

World Percussion Ensemble Concert at CSU Griffin Concert Hall

6 p.m. May 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

EDITORIAL STAFF

Trin Bonner | Illustration Director design@collegian.com

Colby Clark | Social Media Coordinator socialmedia@collegian.com

Milo Gladstein | Photo Director photo@collegian.com

Garrett Mogel | Photo Director photo@collegian.com

Tyler Weatherwax | News Editor news@collegian.com

Hannah Parcells | News Editor news@collegian.com

Jenn Dawson | Science Editor science@collegian.com

Dominique Lopez | Opinion Editor letters@collegian.com

Damon Cook | Sports Editor sports@collegian.com

Emma Askren | Sports Editor sports@collegian.com

Alex Hasenkamp | A&E Editor entertainment@collegian.com

Christian Arndt | L&C Editor life@collegian.com

Parisa Farhadi | Digital & Social Managing Editor socialmedia@collegian.com

‘You

see your child walking near a cliff’: Parents of former Grace Christian Church attendees speak out about cultlike tendencies

By Allie Seibel @allie_seibel_

Editor’s Note: In 2015, The Collegian published “Cult or community?

Questions about Fort Collins’ Faith Christian Church offshoot, Grace Christian Church.” This article is a follow-up to that story and intended to examine the continued presence of Grace Christian Church on Colorado State University’s campus.

Sandy Wade’s daughter was approached on The Plaza during her first year of college at Colorado State University and asked if she was a Christian by campus ministers of Grace Christian Church.

It appeared an innocuous enough question to Wade’s family. They were Christian, and Wade’s daughter grew up in an environment with a youth minister and a religious community.

Wade said it all started with making her daughter doubt if her upbringing was Christian enough.

“They started with, ‘Well, how do you know for sure? Don’t you think it’s worth it to come with us and make sure?’” Wade said. “They just made her doubt everything she ever knew growing up, so she started going to church there, and they call it love bombing, right? They were just like, ‘Oh, you know, let us help you move into the dorms; let us help you; we can do this; we have these events ... multiple times a week. And then, so literally, it gets to the point that all of their time is spent with this group of people.”

Wade’s daughter’s journey with Grace Christian Church continued with weekly meetings with campus ministers to discuss events in her life. She spoke to the ministers about her home life, her family and any arguments that had occurred, and Wade said the church tried to plant doubts in her daughter’s head about her relationship with her parents.

Wade spoke with her daughter’s youth minister, who reassured her it was a good thing she had found a church family at CSU. Wade’s worries about her daughter’s wellbeing didn’t fully occur until several months later, when her father was about to be deployed to Afghanistan.

Because her father was a medevac pilot deployed 10 times over, Wade’s daughter was used to the routine of what happens before her father gets deployed, Wade said. Her daughter refused to come home before her father’s deployment, citing she had

children’s church to minister and could not get out of it.

“My husband always would say, ‘I don’t understand how anyone could get brainwashed. And I’m like, ‘It’s so easy.’ You could brainwash someone so easily, especially when it comes to religion because that’s the most manipulative form as we’ve even seen over the years and all the different things that have gone on in the United States — it’s the easiest form of manipulation.”

JAIME ANTOLINI PARENT OF FORMER GRACE CHRISTIAN CHURCH ATTENDEE

“(My daughter said), ‘Nothing’s going to happen to him unless it’s God’s will,’” Wade said. “And I’m just like, ‘Who are you? And what have you done with my child? I don’t even know this person.’”

At some point, Wade’s daughter was baptized at Grace Christian Church — something she did not tell her family until much later.

“When people are baptized, it’s a big celebration; you always come together,” Wade said. “But it was a big secret. Like, she didn’t want us to know until months later.”

Wade’s daughter was supposed to live with a friend in a townhouse her parents purchased in Fort Collins; however, after a year in the townhouse, she told her parents she wanted to move out and live in a house with girls from the church, saying it was important to live with like-minded Christians.

“I call(ed) the church, and I talked about it,” Wade said. “They just

get excited for the Lord, and they decide that that’s what they want to do. But that has nothing to do with the church. ... It’s such BS. Like, if you read the stories, they’re all the same about them all living together.”

Following her time at CSU, Wade’s daughter decided against her dream of going to veterinary school and working at a zoo and instead wanted to stay in Fort Collins to work on the staff for Grace Christian Church.

At that point, Wade decided to stage an intervention after connecting with the Former Members of Faith Christian Church website, and she was able to trace Faith Christian Church to Grace Christian Church. Wade panicked and knew she had to get her daughter out of the church.

Wade brought her daughter down to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and informed her of other testimonies of families connected with Grace Christian Church.

“I printed out all of these stories (from) people all over the United States,” Wade said. “We’re sitting there, and they’re talking, and she’s saying stuff, and then they’re

showing her why it’s not biblical, and she starts to cry. And I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ And she says, ‘I feel like this is an intervention.’ Like, yeah, that’s exactly what it is.”

Wade and her family have rebuilt their lives after years apart. Her daughter went on a road trip to her youth minister’s house and asked, “Well, how long is it going to take for you to deprogram me?”

At the end of that summer, Wade told her daughter that returning to Fort Collins was not an option, and she stayed, leaving the Grace Christian Church.

The effects of Grace Christian Church are still weighing on the family. Wade’s daughter married a boy from the church who also left to be with her and still invited members of Grace Christian Church to her bachelorette party.

“Fortunately, it’s been enough years now that my daughter’s out, (but) you still see some of the damage that they did really come out, but ... we’ve spent a lot of time rebuilding our relationship from that,” Wade said.

Wade said the rebuilding process for her and her family took a lot of time, tears and love, and after nine years, the family is healing. Wade now runs the Former Members & Parents of Grace Christian Church Fort Collins, CO Facebook page.

“We’re closer now than we’ve ever been,” Wade said. “And certainly closer now than we were when she was in college. I would say it was a good two to three years there, and the scars are always going to be there for us. But I made it my mission in life. And the other thing I told her, too, is I said, ‘You’re going leave that church, or I will be there. Every Sunday, I will be standing on a pew in the back. I will make so much ruckus and so much chaos for them that they will ask you to leave.’ Had I waited another year, I don’t know that I would have been successful.”

Grace Christian Church is the offshoot of Faith Christian Church, a Tucson, Arizona-based church that has offshoots in other areas of Arizona; Boulder, Colorado; Tampa, Florida; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and New Zealand.

Jaime Antolini, another parent of a former Grace

Christian Church attendee, said the church encourages parents to discipline babies by hitting them with cardboard from a clothes hanger to break their spirits when they are strong enough to sit up.

Young adult girls are encouraged to live with other religious women in the church to prepare for marriage in ways that include cleaning, cooking and housekeeping.

The church is aware of and controls all finances and tithes its members 10% of their income, and it requires financial statements from each member.

Antolini’s son was involved in Grace Christian Church during his time at CSU and was a campus minister for 10 years. Similarly to Wade’s family, Antolini’s son married into the church after only a few months of dating.

“They would say, ‘Well, because they’re not Christian, they can’t be, like, part of your life or in the wedding,’” Antolini said. “I mean, it was horrible. The whole

when he got married and his wedding and everything was horrible because we weren’t really allowed to be involved at all.”

When Antolini’s son started having children, she and her husband were not allowed to be involved in their upbringing whatsoever. Sleepovers, birthday parties and even visits to the Antolinis’ home were controlled, and the children were not allowed to be alone with Antolini or her husband, which resulted in a two-year estrangement when Antolini did not have contact with her grandchildren until they left the church.

“My husband always would say, ‘I don’t understand how anyone could get brainwashed,’” Antolini said. “And I’m like, ‘It’s so easy.’ You could brainwash someone so easily, especially when it comes to religion because that’s the most manipulative form as we’ve even seen over the years and all the different things that have gone on in the United States — it’s the easiest form of manipulation.”

leave the church and reconnect with his family.

“When we reconciled and got back together, (we said), ‘Now it’s fine,’” Antolini said. “And it’s been really good. But during all that, we just let them control it. And we were just super nice and, like, kissed their butts, so we never got cut out. It was just very weird and strange. And there were tons of things we didn’t agree with. But we just didn’t say anything.”

Antolini began connecting with other parents of children connected with Grace Christian Church and saw the similarities.

“We would share stories,” Antolini said. “And that’s when we found out that everything was the same, even the same verbiage. ... You get the same answers from other parents. ... You could tell they were being spoon-fed these replies (and) these statements, like, ‘Say this to your parents.’”

have regrets in time when the kids are grown and realize what has been taken from them (and) what they’ve missed out on. It’s heartbreaking because they see what my other grandkids get to do, and then they see their life. And, you know, it’s devastating. I mean, it really is. It’s ... just devastating and something you can’t get back.”

The college years, Antolini said, are the most pivotal times in human development for organizations like Grace Christian Church to take hold.

“When you’re in college, you’re away from your parents; you finally get ... to maybe make your own decisions for the first time,” Antolini said. “It’s just the perfect age that you can just get in there and say, ‘Oh, your parents are horrible.’ That’s how they lay all the groundwork, and it’s so easy. It’s so easy because, I mean, look at all these kids that have bought into it.”

Antolini said she still is not completely sure of what happened to make her son

Antolini has other grandchildren who live in California, and she said the experiences of her grandchildren who were impacted by Grace Christian Church in comparison to her other grandchildren are noticeably different.

“There’s still residual stuff,” Antolini said. “They’re going to

The Collegian contacted Grace Christian Church for comment and did not receive a response.

Reach Allie Seibel at news@collegian.com.

COLLEGIAN FILE ILLUSTRATION

These 3 iconic movies are Coloradans

By Sananda Chandy @csucollegian

Colorado, the home to many beautifully diverse landscapes and scenery, has been the backdrop for various cult classic movies that fans continually go back to.

Colorado fans can visit their filming locations, maintaining a nostalgic connection to their favorite movies in their very own home.

1. ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’

The 1989 comedy classic “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” follows Clark Griswold as he tries to plan the perfect Christmas for his family. However, he finds himself dealing with a series of hijinks and unfortunate events, leading him to discover the true meaning of Christmas.

This movie filmed many of its scenes in Colorado areas such as Breckenridge, Frisco and Copper Mountain. Most prominently, the crew used Summit High School in Frisco as a backdrop for the throwback home video scenes.

Vanessa Agee has been the director of marketing and communications for the town of Frisco for a little over 10 years. She said the setting has changed since the late ‘80s; they would have used what is now Summit Middle School and Snowy Peaks High School. Even with these changes, Agee still said the surrounding area is so appealing with its beautiful hiking paths and views of the lake from the school itself.

“It’s just a phenomenal place in terms of trails and public land,” Agee said. “It’s a place which appeals to people who want to be outside. “

The local town of Frisco itself is incredibly charming in Agee’s eyes, further reflecting the nostalgic and merry vibes of “Christmas Vacation.”She recalled cheerful memories of getting a Christmas tree with her family during the holidays. Frisco as a whole evokes a reminiscent feeling of the movie.

2. ‘Dumb and Dumber’

“Dumb and Dumber,” starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, is a 1994 slapstick comedy about two guys who go on a hilarious road trip to Aspen, Colorado, to return a woman’s briefcase.

Nick Marx is an associate professor of film and media studies for Colorado State University. He said this movie holds a special place in his “adolescent heart”; it’s a comedy he could always come back to as a teenager.

With scenes in and around Aspen, Breckenridge and The Stanley Hotel in

Estes Park, Marx said he initially came to know more about Colorado through this film.

“My first impression of Aspen in Colorado (was) learning about it through ‘Dumb and Dumber,’” Marx said. “I thought it was a place where wealthy, conniving, villainous people liked to ski and stay in big lodges and get their tongues stuck to the ski lift battle post.”

Marx said being in the hotel fueled a feeling of reminiscence within him; he could almost immediately recognize the sets from one of his favorite films. With this memorable comedy being so quotable with silly lines and gags, Marx said he felt rather connected to the film when visiting Stanley Hotel.

“I remember going there with my wife and quoting the movie back and forth to her from the scenes set in the bar,” Marx said.

3. ‘The Shining’

Known as the one of the most popular cult classic horror films, “The Shining,” based on the novel by Stephen King, tells the story of a family that travels to a remote hotel and is unraveled by violence and visions.

Hye Seung Chung has been a professor of film and media studies at CSU since 2011 and has grown to love this Stanley Kubrick film after bringing it into her classes.

Chung said that the film’s setting, the Overlook Hotel, was inspired by The Stanley Hotel, which opened in 1909. Even to this day, the hotel has maintained the eerie grandeur of the 1910s and ‘20s through its appearance.

“(Kubrick) apparently researched everything about the Colorado history, especially its history of genocide of Native Americans,” Chung said. “He intentionally inserted many visual motifs of Native American art and culture to allude to this tragic state history.”

Chung said she appreciates that Kubrick brings The Stanley Hotel to life, picking a setting that invokes the atmospheric horror of the past. The Stanley Hotel is known for its paranormal activity and “maze-like quality,” which mirrors the violent horrors of the 20th century in Colorado that Kubrick highlighted throughout the film.

“Kubrick captured both timeless charms and sinister feelings of the place magnificently,” Chung said. “I cannot imagine a better setting for King’s novel and Kubrick’s adaptation.”

Reach Sananda Chandy at life @collegian.com.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY RASHIDA OBIKA THE COLLEGIAN

These famous cults got their start — or end — in Colorado

By Katie Fisher @csucollegian

From a silver woman mummified and entombed in Christmas lights to a naturally formed spire rumored to be the landing site of a UFO, there has been no shortage of fringe religious movements or self-proclaimed deities and reincarnates to grace the Rocky Mountain state.

Colorado has a long history of cult activity formed within its borders. Most common were the new-age movements documented throughout the 1970s and ‘80s that preached personal transformation based on metaphysical properties and self-actualization. This trend continued well into the 21st century with the discovery of a mummified woman in Crestone, Colorado.

Love Has Won is a now-defunct religious group based out of a 141-person town, which was led by the now deceased Amy Carlson, whose mummified remains were discovered in a sleeping bag and wrapped in Christmas lights. Her flesh turned silver from ingesting colloidal silver, according to the El Paso County Coroner’s autopsy report.

“Love Has Won was completely predicated on the outrageous claims made by Amy Carlson,” said Rick Alan Ross, a renowned cult deprogrammer and founder and executive director of the Cult Education Institute. “(She claimed) she was the reincarnation of famous people, that she was speaking for God on Earth, and her followers worshiped her as Mother God.”

Ross appeared on the Dr. Phil show alongside Carlson and her mother and sister in May 2021.

“It was a very in-depth show, and I think we successfully exposed Amy Carlson as a deeply narcissistic and disturbed personality,” Ross said. “By all accounts, she was a raging alcoholic and used other drugs that contributed to her death. She appeared to be anorexic.”

These factors later contributed to her cause of death. It hasn’t been determined when Carlson officially passed away, but seven of her followers were found living with her remains, which they enshrined.

“Her followers memorialized her body with Christmas lights and refused to really acknowledge she was gone,” Ross said.

While the seven individuals were first arrested on discovery of Carlson’s remains, they were later released, and the charges were dropped.

Although Carlson’s discovery gripped the country’s attention, it was not the first time a nationally recognized cult stepped foot into Colorado, as a more notorious community was spotted in the Rocky Mountains in fall 1975: Heaven’s Gate.

Known primarily for a mass suicide of its 39 members discovered in March 1997 in a mansion located in Rancho Santa Fe, California, the movement was led by Marshall Applewhite, a former music professor who earned a master’s in music from the University of Colorado Boulder. Ross described Applewhite as a “deeply disturbed individual who had been in and out

of mental hospitals” and made wild statements of his divine birth.

“(He claimed) that he was, again, the reincarnation of essential Jesus Christ and that he was on a holy mission and that he was the master teacher,” Ross said.

Applewhite, along with his partner, Bonnie Nettles, orchestrated the suicide as a means for their followers to ascend to a higher status, and he controlled every one of their last actions.

“He claimed that by committing suicide, they were really rising to a level above and shedding their physical shells to become realized,” Ross said. “When it really boiled down to his mass suicide, he controlled everything they ate and their last meal. He controlled how they dressed, how their bodies were covered.”

But before the 1997 deaths, the group spent much of their existence traveling around the United States trying to convert members. This brought them to Colorado in fall 1975, said Benjamin Zeller, Lake Forest College professor of religion who wrote a book titled, “Heaven’s Gate: America’s UFO Religion.”

“There was a big meeting they had in September (1975) in Oregon,” Zeller said. “That was followed up by a few other meetings, and they told people to meet in Colorado on the western slope.”

Once the group met up, they continued their search for converts.

“They met at a campground (near Fruita, Colorado), that was their initial base of operation in Colorado, and they kept moving,” Zeller said. “They ended up in Wyoming at one point — they were

all over in the eastern slope. A journalist tracked them down somewhere near Rocky Mountain National Park at one point.”

While the exact number of converts they claimed is unclear, Zeller recalled one man in particular from his research who “was a sort of (a) minor celebrity in Colorado.”

Originally from Durango, Colorado, John Craig was a land developer and a former Chamber of Commerce member and was even elected to the Colorado Legislature under the Republican ticket. But all of that changed in summer 1975 when Craig encountered Heaven’s Gate, signed over his power of attorney to his wife, claimed to go to Denver on a business trip and never returned, according to a 1997 New York Times article.

Craig instead traveled to Stapleton International Airport, met up with Applewhite and Nettles and officially joined their organization, later rising to become the cult’s second-in-command. He was confirmed as one of the 39 individuals part of the 1997 mass suicide. He died at 62 years old.

While there is no clear rhyme or reason to how cults take hold or when they succeed, Zeller commented on the unique religious atmosphere in the western states that might be to blame.

“It’s just sort of typical (that) the western states are less religious,” Zeller said. “When people are less religious to begin with, they’re more likely to join your religions because ... they’re not affiliated.”

Reach Katie Fisher at life @collegian.com.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY KATHRYN PAKIZ THE COLLEGIAN

Colorado breweries are home to cult of specialty beer lovers

By Sophia Masia @csucollegian

Colorado has been known to attract a variety of specific cult followings: the obvious winter sports fanatics, pothead transplants, outdoorsy mountain lovers and, of course, the elite craft beer drinkers.

“I’ve been to breweries all over America and outside the U.S.,” said Sarah Kelley, who celebrated her birthday at Equinox Brewing. “But since living in Colorado, I’ve hit every major brewery here, Loveland, Denver, Boulder and most up in the mountains.

The difference between beer and craft beer is that the latter comes from a small, independent brewer.

Colorado didn’t invent the concept of craft beer, but it is home to the fourth most breweries per capita in the U.S. with more than 400 established breweries.

This all began when gold was discovered in the Rocky Mountains, with

brewers set up in Colorado mining communities making small batches of beer for the miners. These humble beginnings developed into the brewery scene we know today after companies like Coors Brewing Company got their start in Colorado.

Craft beer and breweries instill a sense of local pride because they’re not just a place to get fresh beer but also a place for community. Breweries allow people passionate about beer to meet with each other and socialize.

“I like to come hang out after work or on days when I work from home,” said Emily Wenack, a regular at Funkwerks. “It’s a chill environment, but it still gets (my dog) out of the house. He loves meeting people and gets all the attention.”

Intersect Brewing is a taproom that focuses on building the social sphere and experience of a brewery with food, games like cornhole and pinball and hundreds of vinyl records available for music

lovers to buy or sell to the brewery.

“I’m not 21 yet, but I’ll be coming back here when I am because I’m not even into beer like that, but I think the vibes of this place are, like, chill and good even when you’re not drinking,” Jose Guerrero said.

Unlike bars, breweries are typically family friendly and allow in people under 21 as long as they’re accompanied by someone of legal drinking age. This contributes to the more relaxed environment breweries tend to have and encourages people to continue to frequent breweries.

“I chose Equinox (to celebrate my birthday at) because I do like to support Fort Collins’ local community,” Kelley said. “It’s close, so it’s easy for all of my friends to stop in after work on their way home. They can bring their kids to keep my son occupied while we catch up, and they’re always kind, and there’s just no place quite like it.”

These breweries with games, food, social spaces and events attract members of the community beyond the craft beer cult following. Breweries like Odell Brewing Co. and New Belgium Brewing have become popular Fort Collins staples, pushing true craft beer lovers to smaller businesses.

“I try to have our annual card writing event at Horse & Dragon (Brewing Company) every year,” said Laura Moritz, who uses local breweries for work meetings.

“There’s lots of space, but it’s still informal enough that everyone can grab a beer if they want and have a good time while we work.”

For those who want to support the smaller local brewery scene in Fort Collins or are looking for new places to try, Mythmaker Brewing, Prost Biergarten, Maxline Brewing, Stodgy Brewing Co. and Rally King Brewing are places to begin in addition to all of the breweries mentioned above.

Reach Sophia Masia at life@collegian.com.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY TRIN BONNER THE COLLEGIAN

ENVIRONMENTAL INEQUALITY

Colorado outdoor culture romanticizes roughing it while signifying privilege

By Ivy Secrest @ivysecrest

Growing up in Colorado, I became intimately familiar with the great outdoors. Weekends were for hikes, week nights were for biking and winters were structured around powder days and maximizing the use of a ski pass.

I never really understood the social capital that being from Colorado has until I went on a date to Rocky Mountain National Park my sophomore year of college. The guy in question was from out of state, and upon seeing my lack of branded outdoors gear, he made the comment, “Wow, I look like the local, and you look like a transplant.”

Outdoor culture is full of social and cultural status symbols, including branded gear. People can be valued based on every aspect of their interaction with the outdoors, including the severity of their commitment to the sport. Oftentimes, these standards are set by a white and affluent upper middle class.

Colorado State University Assistant Professor of Sociology Jessie Luna researches “how cultural politics intersect with processes of capitalism to produce and naturalize social inequalities and environmental change,” her College of Liberal Arts biography reads.

In 2019, Qualititative Sociology published Luna’s research paper “The Ease of Hard Work: Embodied Neoliberalism among Rocky Mountain Fun Runners.” The paper focused on “embodied status politics among white runners in Boulder, Colorado,” Luna’s bio reads.

“I lived (in Boulder) for six years,” Luna said. “I was involved in many of the outdoor scenes: I’m a rock climber; I’m a cyclist; I go backpacking; I go hiking; I go running. I fit right in to Colorado outdoor culture.”

Luna observed fun runners and how they treat social capital while acknowledging that she herself fits some of these social markers.

“My parents took me backpacking when I was 3 years old,” Luna said. “I fit the mold of Colorado outdoor culture: I’m white and middle class; I’m highly

educated and thin. … There’s these specific forms of identity that fit really neatly into that Colorado outdoor culture.”

Luna’s work delved into the social capital associated with thinness, habitus, ease, individualism and hard work. She found that the fun runner culture in Boulder placed value on how hardcore one could be in running. In addition, the culture treats certain levels of running as relatively easy.

One excerpt from the paper reads, “Fun runners often use sarcasm and humor to make fun of — or at least poke fun at — the stereotypes of extreme healthism and extreme athleticism in Boulder. This comes out frequently in the expression, ‘That’s so Boulder,’ which targets the over-thetopness that is seen as stereotypical of Boulder.”

Fun runs are very common in Boulder. They’re typically more casual group running events.

One person Luna observed was a working-class woman who attended with earnest interest in running. She had all of the nice gear for more serious long runs, but because she wasn’t familiar with the culture, she brought this gear to the wrong event. Her peers used that gear for a longer weekend run, while the fun run was for pizza and beer that had been “earned” after participating.

Running is just one aspect of outdoor culture in Colorado, and its social standards aren’t unique to the sport. Climbers, skiers and even hikers all participate in this value system, albeit in varying ways.

More often than not, these status symbols exclude minorities from participating, especially people of color and people without the expendable income to participate. This even extends to how open spaces are used. A classic example is how people of color are viewed in open recreation spaces as opposed to white people.

Books like “Black Faces, White Spaces” by Carolyn Finney; “Romancing the Wild: Cultural Dimensions of Ecotourism,” by Robert Fletcher; and “The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America’s Eden” by Lisa Sun-Hee Park and David Naguib Pellow are examples among many that explore just how

much outdoor culture exacerbates racial and economic disparities.

Aspen, Colorado, in particular is well known worldwide for the outdoor access it provides. This luxury outdoor experience comes at the cost of those working for their livelihood in that area.

Coloradans pride themselves on getting in their ski days, but in towns like Aspen, that comes at the cost of others. Immigrant communities have held Aspen up on their backs for decades with very little reward for their work.

“In a lot of these upper middleclass, white, outdoorsy cultures, …  it’s sort of made to be easy and fun,” Luna said. “At the same time, it’s more often easy and fun for people who have a particular class and usually white racial background. There’s also exclusionary practices that go on, that people who are taking part in it are often unaware of.”

There’s been a recent move to promote outdoor recreation for everyone, but at the same time, many outdoors-oriented people don’t want outdoor spaces to be crowded. They prefer getting out past the crowds to places where no one else goes. And there’s a tension there.

While there’s an overwhelming amount of information exploring the in- and out-groups of outdoor culture, it’s unlikely that Coloradans will cease taking to the wilderness to shred the slopes or summit epic peaks, and honestly, that may not even be the solution.

“(There are also) questions of who’s deciding the proper ways to use our outdoor spaces and the ways in which it that can reproduce certain inequalities,” Luna said.

Going on a hiking date and being confronted with my “Colorado-ness” has largely been a funny bad first date story more than anything else, but it also illustrates something bigger in the culture of my beloved home state. Belonging in Colorado is tied to a relationship with nature — and not just any relationship with nature but the right relationship with nature.

Reach Ivy Secrest at life @collegian.com.

Cody Braesch climbs a V3-rated bouldering route at Horsetooth Reservoir January 2019. Originally from Berthoud, the Braesch started outdoor rock climbing in 2018. “I haven’t found anything else that pushes me so hard both mentally and physically as rock climbing,” Braesch said. “It’s like a constant battle between the limits of your body and how far your mind will let you push past the fear and uncertainty of what could happen.”

COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO

By Emma Askren @emma_askren

From smelly socks to game day playlists, routines are ever prevalent in sports.

Traditions, superstitions, routines — whatever you want to call them — they exist in sports, and they have for a while.

For lots of athletes, those same routines aren’t superstitions; they just happen to put their shoes on in the exact same order before every game. The same unwashed game day socks are totally not the reason the locker rooms smell the way they do.

For Ellie Watts, a member of the Colorado State women’s club soccer team, superstitions aren’t common in her pregame routine. While she does have a ritual that she goes through before every game, her play isn’t reliant on what happens before the game.

“I wouldn’t say I’m really superstitious,” Watts said. “I do follow some same stuff before every game, but, you know, I go

CSU athletes get in game mode with traditions, superstitions

out onto the field and play my best no matter what.”

Even though unwashed socks and the order of which shoe is put on first

may not matter in the grand scheme of things, research shows repetition and routine are extremely important for athletes.

According to an article written by Sean McCann, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee sport psychologist, routines help athletes do the right things and avoid missteps.

McCann said there are five reasons routines are helpful: A routine increases the sense of familiarity in a new environment, helps an athlete stay active and focused on useful behaviors, fosters feelings of control and confidence, makes useful behaviors automatic and increases the opportunity for the brain to focus on the proper things.

For nordic ski team member Sage Breck, her routine does just that.

“Honestly, I don’t know if it’s superstition or just a ritual, but I’ve been following the same sort of thing since I was little,” Breck said.

“I’ve noticed that I eat the same thing before every competition day, and I have a designated playlist for racing that I listen to as well. So not really sure if it’s superstitious, but I

definitely have a routine that helps me out.”

Superstitions are present in all sports, though. In baseball, players avoid the foul line like the plague; watch enough baseball and the superstition becomes unavoidably apparent.

CSU’s baseball team follows that same belief, especially vice president Bennett Gregory.

“The foul line is a big one — we avoid that thing at all costs,” Gregory said. “I also have some classic superstitious behaviors.

During our big games, I won’t change my socks, which the guys say is gross, but I can’t not do it.”

Even though changing his socks might not improve Gregory’s play, it sets his mind right before a game.

“I mean, yeah, I don’t really have to not wash my socks,” Gregory said. “But it gets me locked in, you know? It’s kind of the perfect time to tell myself that it’s game time.”

Reach Emma Askren at sports @collegian.com.

Annabelle Stephan smiles while playing in a scrimmage during women’s club soccer practice April 11 PHOTO BY AVERY COATES THE COLLEGIAN

CSU Outlaws cult-ivate strong Ram spirit

By Liv Sewell @liv_sewell22

Outlaws are not just the villains in “Red Dead Redemption 2.”

“We went out one night with hats and were like, ‘Oh, let’s do it at a game,’” Outlaw Logan Eastwood said. “We did it just because, and since then, (we) got a little traction from the alumni, so might as well keep doing it.”

The outspoken support from alumni then transferred to the administration and members of CSU Athletics.

People like Interim Director of Athletics John Weber or CSU President Amy Parsons chipped in hundreds of dollars to their GoFundMe for their trip to the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas to support CSU men’s basketball.

Connections like those started breaking down the enigmatic nature of athletics for the Outlaws.

“It breaks down the idolization that a lot of people have,” Osoba said. “You see (student-athletes) as people, and they’ll see you as people. … If you’re there long enough, they learn your face, and they know who you are. … They’re (people); they want to talk to you, and they want to know you.”

The Outlaws have built many different connections, like being on a first-name basis with many men’s basketball players and being included in locker room pep talks by Niko Medved.

relationships with alumni and those who came before.

That and making sure students support CSU athletics even when they aren’t winning titles.

“I feel like, with CSU sports, there has been a lot of — with our old athletic director — killing of the student-to-alumni (relationship),” Osoba said. “After you’re no longer a student, you don’t have any want to come back because most of our teams are not always that great.”

That unwavering support is how the Outlaws wish to impact the CSU community.

However, their name — just like their claim to fame — was another happy accident brought about by their connections with other people.

For a group of friends, they are a collective of cowboy hat-toting superfans who represent school spirit reminiscent of Colorado State athletics’ glory days.

“It was the alumni first,” Outlaw Todd Osoba said. “(They were) like, ‘Oh, this is cool. We haven’t seen this since we were here in the ‘70s.’ And from there, that’s where it got traction with the team.”

The Outlaws of CSU are hard to miss. Their first claim to fame was going to men’s basketball games in large Stetson cowboy hats in the front row of the student section.

Eastwood, a junior in marketing, has direct relationships with Athletics through working directly with the Green & Gold Guard, CSU’s name, image and likeness collective.

“I had these dickhead roommates that saw us wear the hats and were calling us names,” Outlaw Anthony Barse said. “‘Oh, it’s the outlaws.’ And we thought it had a pretty good ring to it.”

In actuality, the Outlaws don’t act like their namesake. The basis of their group goes back to one thing:

Instead of going to a basketball game just because it is a fun thing to do, the Outlaws want to build community with peers.

“We’re just a bunch of friends going to games,” Outlaw Jasem Al-Shukry said. “We hope that our impact and what we did here inspire future generations to do the same. Because whatever college you go to, you’re going to have to support it.”

Reach Liv Sewell at sports @collegian.com.

COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO

Psychology explains occurrences of alien abductions

“We often remember things as we think (they) should be. We’re very good at incorporating details into memory.”

MATTHEW RHODES COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGIST AND PROFESSOR

By Hana Pavelko @csucollegian

In September 2019, a new internet sensation swept across the nation: Storm Area

51. With the motto, “They can’t stop all of us,” millions of people became obsessed with the idea of discovering secrets about extraterrestrial life assumed to be hidden in the military installation Area 51. While the raid turned out to be relatively peaceful, it did not stop the discussion of the possibility of life beyond Earth’s solar system.

People have reported encounters with extraterrestrial life and UFOs since the 1940s. The reports of these extraterrestrial encounters have only grown over the decades, resulting in a cult of alien abduction believers.

While there is still research going on about the potential of life existing somewhere beyond Earth’s solar system, there has been no definitive evidence to confirm their existence. So what factors can contribute to people’s belief

that they have been abducted by aliens?

Psychology offers the innate faults of human memory as a possible explanation for people’s belief that they have encountered extraterrestrial life.

Matthew Rhodes, a cognitive psychologist and a professor of psychology at Colorado State University, talked about the concept of reality monitoring.

“‘Did I turn the light off?’” Rhodes said. “Reality monitoring is the, ‘Did I imagine this, or did I actually do this?’”

Human reality monitoring is not always accurate and, therefore, can make it hard for people to distinguish real events from imagined events. Faulty reality monitoring can make it easy for people to believe an imagined event, such as an alien abduction, actually happened.

“We often remember things as we think (they) should be,” Rhodes said. “We’re very good at incorporating details into memory.”

But how does this account for the similarities between

people’s stories about their close encounters? Many people who claim to have been abducted share similar details about their captors, including their large heads, big eyes and strange fingers.

“One piece of evidence from abduction survivors (is that) everybody’s stories are so similar,” Rhodes said. “How would you explain that?”

Rhodes said the similarities between people’s recollections of alien abductions can be attributed to a “cultural script.” Movies, television programs and even books all give a very clear description of what an alien abduction should be like.

In “The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe,” Steven Novella discusses five different ways the human brain can alter its memory: fusion, confabulation, personalization, contamination and distortion.

Human brains naturally want to construct a continuous memory and therefore use these different concepts in order to make memories more continuous and consistent. People can

fuse details of different memories, completely make things up to fill memory gaps, make themselves the main characters of memories, incorporate details contributed by someone else or simply forget or change details of a memory over time.

These techniques to make memories continuous, in addition to the cultural script surrounding alien abductions, account for the seeming consistency between these abduction stories.

However, beyond psychology, is there evidence to support the existence of extraterrestrial life? Research done by government organizations points to the conclusion that extraterrestrial life does not exist.

Sean Kirkpatrick, the first director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, talked about the mission of this office and its work concerning unidentified anomalous phenomena, previously referred to as unidentified flying objects.

“The historical mission (of AARO) was to research everything the (U.S. government) has done with regards to UAP/UFOs going back to 1945 and to investigate claims of government conspiracies to hide the reverse engineering of extraterrestrial technology,” Kirkpatrick said.

After data collection and examination using rigorous scientific framework, AARO has found no evidence thus far that supports the existence of extraterrestrial life. However, all accounts of UAPs are still currently being investigated.

“Of all the cases we had reported to us, both in the operational mission and in the historical mission, there was no evidence of anything having to do with extraterrestrial technology,” Kirkpatrick said. “Everything for which data existed was traceable to either natural phenomena or human-made terrestrial technology.”

Reach Hana Pavelko at science@collegian.com.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY TRIN BONNER THE COLLEGIAN

By Dominique Lopez @caffeinateddee6

Masculinity is society’s biggest cult

Editor’s Note: All opinion content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

What makes someone masculine? Is it someone who enjoys manly activities? Someone who is secure enough with who they are that they don’t need to show it through material objects? These are two influences that get put on men as they begin to analyze who they are in a masculine sense.

Another experience that influences masculinity is media that often portray men as being “‘hypermasculine’ — violent, tough, sexually aggressive and dangerous,” Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz and Julia T. Wood said in their book “Gendered Lives.”

When looking into nationalist standards in which “terms such as honor, patriotism, cowardice, bravery and duty are … thoroughly tied to both the nation and to manhood,” as written by Joane Nagel in her book “Race, Ethnicity and Sexuality: Intimate Intersections, Forbidden Frontiers,” there is an influence of nationalism that ties into certain understandings of what some

men think they need to become in order to be a man.

Within social media use, there is also a specific brand of masculinity that is shared and shapes the definition of what men feel they might need to be because “in an online world where users portray themselves in an ideal manner, depressed individuals may be stymied in their efforts to seek out negative information about others,” psychiatrist Jacqueline Nesi and psychologist Mitchell J. Prinstein wrote in a manuscript published in the National Library of Medicine.

This realm of social media can often mirror aspects of a cult like having a charismatic leader who influences them either in a social or personal way, causing conformity and control and creating an us-vs.-them mentality.

Cognitive development theory “assumes that children play active roles in developing their gender identities,” as defined in “Gendered Lives.” This ties the effect of who men grew up around — especially parental influences — with what they consumed to how they will later represent a version of masculinity later in life.

Many of these influences contribute to a cultlike mindset of who they might feel they need to be in order to fit into the boy’s club created

for them. Oftentimes, this culture will promote ideals of hypermasculinity under the guise of needing it to fit societal expectations, an action that creates a very cultlike mentality.

Fixmer-Oraiz and Wood discuss the idea that in order to be masculine, a man must not be feminine but should be successful, aggressive, sexual and self-reliant and embody traditionally masculine values. These are what historically have made a man a man and what actually contribute to the cultlike mentality of masculinity because they are able to ostracize people and make sure that masculinity maintains its status and doesn’t become something too feminine.

It’s the idea that a man must obtain approval by being masculine enough to really be a man. This often leads to toxic masculinity: “the worst aspects of stereotypically masculine attributes,” according to a Conversation article.

Erica Ross, assistant director of educational programming at the Colorado State University Survivor Advocacy and Feminist Education Center, said hegemonic masculinity is a term more widely used by feminists, “a more appropriate concept in the way that it accounts for power that is constructed in a differential gender binary.”

Toxic masculinity is “more about an individual rather than an entire system and society which informs who we are as people,” Ross said.

A representative of toxic masculinity is former President Donald Trump, as demonstrated during his candidacy and presidency.

“This stance of white, masculine victimhood strengthens Trump’s position,” Jakob Schnaitter said in a rhetorical analysis of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech.

Throughout his presidency, Trump embodied toxic masculinity, “from claiming to kiss and grope women without their consent to mocking handicapped male journalist,” Schnaitter said.

Another person who exudes these ideals is Andrew Tate, who, as Ross

said, promotes toxic masculinity and diminishes larger systemic and cultural issues. These men project the image of the hypermasculine man, and they become the person shaping and promoting patriarchal behaviors and sexist ideals that privilege men. There is a societal expectation that men need to not only be a man but also be the breadwinners for their family, which stems from the influences they might have had growing up. This idea starts from a young age and develops as they age and join society, never leaving and pleasing the leader that is members of a society focused on toxic masculinity, like a cult would expect them to do.

Reach Dominique Lopez at science @collegian.com.

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‘Don’t dream it, be it’: ‘Rocky Horror’ continues to define cult classics

Columbia, played by Marlo; Magenta, played by Taylor Ryan; Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by KevKat; and Riff Raff, played by Fynn Kleppe, who also goes by the stage name Sock Puppet, sing “Sweet Transvestite” in No Picnic’s performance of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at The Lyric April 12. “Right away you feel like you’re part of something bigger,” Kleppe said. “Whether you’re experiencing the show in the audience for a night or being part of cast long term or even short term, you’re just part of something historical and part of a community.”

Dr. Frank-N-Furter commits murder via an intense bird flipping competition, which results in the untimely death of Eddie, played by Airi Bowden. “Most of the people who got into ‘Rocky Horror’ got into it because someone they knew was in ‘Rocky Horror’ or took them,” Bowden said. “It’s definitely a lot more welcoming than I thought it would be because it’s theater, and theater tends to be ... snooty or kind of cutthroat, but ‘Rocky’ is really not that at all.”

Brad, played by Bekah, and Janet, played by Devour Divinity, read a sign held by Tessa, who also goes by the stage name Yung Ginga: “Enter at your own risk.”

PHOTO BY HANNAH PARCELLS THE COLLEGIAN

PHOTO BY HANNAH PARCELLS THE COLLEGIAN

Dr. Frank-N-Furter throws their head back for dramatic effect during “I Can Make You a Man.”

PHOTO BY IVY SECREST THE COLLEGIAN

PHOTO BY HANNAH PARCELLS THE COLLEGIAN

Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by KevKat, struts across the stage. KevKat captured the audience with their performance of “I Can Make You a Man (Reprise).”

PHOTO BY HANNAH PARCELLS THE COLLEGIAN

Rocky, played by Thorn Bud; Columbia; Dr. Frank-N-Furter; Janet; and Brad dance to “Wild and Untamed Thing” during the closing scene of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” “The cult following is definitely what’s kept it alive for this many years,” Thorn Bud said about “Rocky Horror.” “It’s one of those things where it really does feel like a cult but not a cult that you’re forced into.”

PHOTO BY HANNAH PARCELLS THE COLLEGIAN

Rocky, played by Thorn Bud; Columbia; Brad; Janet; and Dr. Frank-N-Furter dance to “Fanfare / Don’t Dream It” during the closing scene of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” “The movie theater is supposed to be a place where you’re supposed to be quiet and paying attention to the movie, and this is that one movie where that’s not what you’re supposed to do at all,” Thorn Bud said.

PHOTO BY HANNAH PARCELLS THE COLLEGIAN

Columbia clings to Magenta while they sing “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me.”

PHOTO BY IVY SECREST THE COLLEGIAN

DOUBLE FEATURE

‘Rocky Horror’ cult following promises to take you on strange journey

By Lauren Pallemaerts @lpallemaerts

I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey. How strange was it, you ask? So strange they made a movie about it.

But first, there was Richard O’Brien’s 1973 musical “The Rocky Horror Show,” which was adapted into the film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in 1975. It’s a story of queerness and liberation — with hints of cannibalism and aliens.

The story follows new fiances Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) as they stumble upon a castle of sultry horrors and learn the definition of temptation when they meet Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), a mad scientist with a lust for creation.

While it flopped at the box office, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” became a popular midnight movie for niche audiences who kept coming back because the movie resonated with them.

The film itself is only part of the experience: It was the midnight showings that grew the “Rocky Horror” cult following as dressing up in costume, playing the soundtrack through before the movie and audiences performing

the scenes in front of the screen quickly became hallmarks of the event.

“It was a safe space for queer people back in the ‘70s and ‘80s when the AIDS crisis was going on,” said Deathwake, a member of Fort Collins “Rocky Horror” shadow cast No Picnic. “Queer people had to form their own communities because our greater community wasn’t taking care of us.”

Now “Rocky Horror” showings around the world include a preshow and a cast performance of the entire film while it plays, but the actors aren’t the only stars of the show; “Rocky Horror” is an interactive audience experience involving callbacks and props that play off of the events of the film. The average theater performance doesn’t involve yelling, “Asshole!” and, “Slut!” at the main characters throughout their show, but “Rocky Horror” isn’t average.

“The movie theater is supposed to be a place where you’re supposed to be quiet and paying attention to the movie, and this is that one movie where that’s not what you’re supposed to do at all,” said Thorn Bud, a No Picnic cast member.

It’s rumored that the first audience interaction with the film is when someone yelled, “Buy an

umbrella, you cheap bitch!” when Weiss opts to cover her hair with a newspaper during a rainstorm. Props are also a quintessential part of the viewing experience, from mimicking Weiss’ use of newspaper to hurling toilet paper or playing cards across the theater.

“Rocky Horror” became a cult classic by getting made fun of; it’s camp, it’s subversive and viewers have accumulated enough callbacks to guarantee you won’t understand the already-nonsensical plot for your first several run-throughs.

And yet the queer community has claimed “Rocky Horror,” and its depictions of sex and nonconformity are more celebrated now than they were at the film’s premiere. How does this Frankenstein-esque horror hodgepodge unite viewers, and why is it a cult classic going on 50 years of fame? The answer lies in the sense of community it invites.

“It was the first time I had truly felt accepted for who I was — nobody cared what size I am; nobody cared what kind of outfit I was wearing,” said Fynn Kleppe, a No Picnic cast member who also goes by the stage name Sock Puppet. “We were all so focused on our common interest of ‘Rocky’ that there was instant community, almost, even if it was just for that one night.”

The commonality of laughing at bad acting, dressing up in Curry’s makeup and corset and learning the callbacks all constitute an inexplicable feeling of liberation associated with “Rocky Horror.” At once, it’s a creative outlet, a raunchy night out and a queer celebration that keeps you coming back to experience the next one.

“There’s something so fun about getting to do this with a group of people that I love and care about so much, and it really translates onstage for us, and I think that’s why people love coming to our shows,” Deathwake said. “We create safe spaces for not only queer people but everybody because we want people to feel like they can be themselves and live authentically.”

Many of the No Picnic shadow cast members were first introduced to the show via word of mouth. The cycle of roping in friends is part of the addictive fun of “Rocky Horror.” Attendees new to the show are dubbed “virgins” and receive lipsticked V’s on their foreheads at their first show. But don’t worry: “Rocky Horror” performers treat virgins well.

Prop bags are sold and explained at No Picnic’s shows, and each performance opens with a disclaimer emphasizing the importance of consent. As much

“The community is amazing; it’s so much fun; it really brings out part of you, even if you don’t really realize it’s there. And I feel like I’m truly finding the most authentic form of myself through the medium of doing ‘Rocky.’”

POLY AMOUR NO PICNIC CAST MEMBER

ridiculous, raunchy fun as the actors like to have with each other and the audience, “Rocky Horror” is a place of acceptance, letting loose and belonging above all else. The No Picnic cast emphasized that they are always welcoming new members.

“Whether this is something you want to do long term or even just a couple of shows, I think it’s an experience that any queer person should at least maybe try,” said Poly Amour, a No Picnic cast member who just celebrated their 10-year anniversary of performing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” “The community is amazing; it’s so much fun; it really brings out part of you, even if you don’t really realize it’s there. And I feel like I’m truly finding the most authentic form of myself through the medium of doing ‘Rocky.’”

No Picnic will be performing

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at The Lyric June 7, July 12 and Aug. 16 this summer, with more shows closer to Halloween. June 7 will be No Picnic’s Pride show and promises to sell out, so the cast recommended purchasing tickets soon. Audience members need to be at least 18 years old to attend “Rocky Horror” at The Lyric. Reach Lauren Pallemaerts at entertainment@collegian.com.

Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by KevKat, struts across the stage as he welcomes Janet, played by Devour Divinity, and Brad, played by Bekah, to his palace during “Sweet Transvestite” in No Picnic’s performance of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at The Lyric April 12. PHOTO BY IVY SECREST THE COLLEGIAN

Revisiting the morbid fascination of ‘Re-Animator’

By Sophia Pruden @csucollegian

Stuart Gordon’s 1985 film “Re-Animator” is a cult classic science fiction film that perfectly fits every convention of the genre. Loosely based on the short story “Herbert West-Reanimator” by H.P. Lovecraft, the film delves into the story of a young medical student on a quest to conquer death once and for all.

Through gratuitous blood and gore, this film deals with the delicate balance between curiosity and morality in the sciences and confronts the topic of death as the greatest unknown. Although only a loose adaptation, this

film is both a fantastic tribute to the original work and a terrific movie in its own right.

This film quickly found its niche audience in horror and science fiction fans alike through the brilliant performance of Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West and the outstanding practical effects. The story follows West and his roommate Dan Cain through the creation of his reagent and its administration to the corpses of animals, their dean and, finally, every corpse in the morgue.

Predictably, this ends in disaster as the situation explodes into an absolute bloodbath. The reagent fails to completely restore

brain function to those who have been brought back with it, and their corpses become violent and destructive shells of their former selves.

As this becomes apparent, West cannot be convinced to give up on his invention. He is completely consumed by the idea of defeating death.

Fear and anxiety surrounding death have hung around nearly every culture as an unwelcome guest. Lovecraft famously addressed these themes in his work by creating a sense of psychological horror and dread within his audience. This sense of fear holds each reader at the edge of their seat, and they are then left to imagine what horrors lie within his framework.

Through the medium of film, however, the audience does not have to imagine anything. Gordon keeps Lovecraft’s original sense of gloom and preoccupation with death but delivers his own punch in the form of relentless violence, shocking visuals and the emotional turmoil of a romance plot in the context of the story.

Violent movies like this are so satisfying to watch because they take fears and reservations surrounding the morbid and visually and psychologically fulfill them in every way.

This film in particular does an outstanding job with this. Effects and makeup director John Naulin is quoted saying the film was the bloodiest he

had ever worked on, using over 24 gallons of fake blood throughout the production.

Through West’s obsession with beating death and brazen disregard for the potential consequences of his actions, viewers get a crash course about all of the main tenets of death anxiety. There’s annihilation, mutilation and, ultimately, a mature existential discussion on letting the dead rest.

As the film begins and ends with West’s roommate Cain in the emergency room, unable to accept the reality of death, we’re confronted with the sobering truth that sometimes, “a good doctor knows when to stop.”

Reach Sophia Pruden at entertainment @collegian.com.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MADELYN HENDRICKS THE COLLEGIAN

CAMPY FILMS

Women-led cult classics generate committed fandoms

By Aubree Miller @csucollegian

While there are countless cult classic films out there, there aren’t many that focus on women’s stories. Generally speaking, cult classics tend to be films that aren’t incredibly well received upon their release but are enjoyed ironically or have simply gained a significant audience following despite their lack of box office success. Another aspect of what makes a cult classic film is its quotability. The oneliners and recognizable phrases help fans connect with each other.

While some womenled cult classics have been given their flowers, some haven’t. Here’s an overview of some of the greatest womenled cult classics, both of this generation and those previous.

‘Heathers’

The original “Heathers,” starring Winona Ryder and

Christian Slater, is an ‘80s classic with a twist. It was the first of its kind with a high school popular girl clique that inspired numerous other classics like “Mean Girls.”

“Heathers” initially may not have been received well by critics and audiences alike, but since then, it has risen to cult classic status and currently has a critic score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Offbeat, humorous and dark, “Heathers” is a staple in ‘80s cinema, and its musical adaptation — while differing from the movie in numerous ways — doesn’t fall short of the movie’s sensational popularity.

‘But I’m a Cheerleader’

“But I’m a Cheerleader” stars Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall in this campy 1999 satire. It’s a quintessential queer movie with a satirical conversion therapy setting. An

incredibly heavy topic is wonderfully transformed into something fun while not taking away from the significance. The incredible use of color symbolism and an invigorating performance from none other than RuPaul creates a fun cult classic that celebrates queerness.

‘Mean Girls’

Almost everyone has seen “Mean Girls” or knows about it in some capacity. Rachel McAdams’ portrayal of lead mean girl Regina George is nothing short of iconic. One might even say that it’s “so fetch.” The 2004 original movie became such a cultural staple that there have been multiple other iterations of it; there’s a second movie from 2011, a musical adaptation and a recent movie-musical adaptation starring Renee Rapp, which received mixed reviews. Nonetheless, “Mean Girls” has stood the test of time and for good reason. Wonderful

performances combined with memorable jokes and comedic moments have made the film a pop culture phenomenon.

‘Jennifer’s Body’

While not always at the top of a list of best horror movies, “Jennifer’s Body” should be. Starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, it is just scary enough to be considered a horror movie, but it balances absurdity in a way that creates a very nuanced experience. Often considered to be ahead of its time, the writing of Diablo Cody is attention grabbing and enthralling in a way that keeps viewers captivated until the end. It also balances predictability and surprise in a way that is fun, absurd and exciting. Additionally, Jennifer and Needy’s relationship is incredibly nuanced and complex, which adds another layer to the film.

Reach Aubree Miller at entertainment @collegian.com.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY PRESTON BOX THE COLLEGIAN

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

From creeds to classics: Let’s talk cults

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY TRIN BONNER THE COLLEGIAN

By Collegian Editorial Board @csucollegian

Dear readers, What makes a cult?

We’ve all heard the term, whether in the joke “drinking the KoolAid” in reference to the Jonestown Peoples Temple movement, talking about a passionate sports team or discussing an irreverent movie that fans know by heart. “Cult” is something that has both positive and negative connotations and a complicated history as well as an unknown future. It’s a complicated and multifaceted term that we decided to explore for this, our final edition of the 2023-24 school year.

The staff of The Collegian have compiled an edition centered on cults for your

consumption. With stories ranging in seriousness and intent, we have chosen to approach this idea of cults with and open and nuanced mindset. While the word “cult” may feel harsh, it actually is inherent of our culture — pun absolutely intended. There is an solemnity to defining a cult.

In one sense, it is a control group with a leader, a space where lifestyles are limited and a set of severe social consequences for not adhering to the rules of the group.

Cults like Love Has Won have garnered national attention for the ways they manipulated the lives of their members. The severity of this should not be ignored, and while the stories that come from these situations may be intriguing, they should be told with the utmost respect for those whose lives were

turned upside down by these organizations.

The strange duality of the word “cult” means that it can mean both a controlling and abusive organization as well an aggressively passionate in-group that thrives on specific social symbols. Sports fans, cult classic films and the die-hard followers of several fandoms develop their own cultlike groups that become integral to our identities. Whether serious or not, all of these are interpretations of the word “cult.”

When setting out to create this edition, we wanted to have a balance of both serious and fun topics to bring to readers. Cults are serious and dangerous and potentially liferuining, but there is a morbid fascination to the world of cults that has, in part, inspired the term “cult classic.”

Cult classics are things that otherwise might not be considered very popular and are somewhat quirky and offbeat. In this edition, we explore things like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the epitome of cult classics, and try to delve into the emotional and personal bonds that make cult classic groups almost like a found family.

As we explore the worlds of cults, fandoms, psychology and both the lasting damage and blinding joy associated with the world of cults and tight-knit, psychologically invested groups, we invite you to approach this subject with kindness, openness and dignity as readers.

For the last time this school year,

The Collegian Reach the editorial board at letters@collegian.com.

MID GIRLS

Stop making cult classic movies into musicals

By Astrid Thorn @csucollegian

Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

The entertainment industry has entered an era of creative burnout. Very few new ideas are being made into blockbuster box office hits, and most of what is being promoted in mainstream media consists of remakes or overused and predictable plot archetypes.

One major side effect of this mass burnout is the everincreasing phenomenon of cult classic movies being remade as musical adaptations. These musicals consistently demonstrate the unfortunate decline of the film industry into an algorithmic money machine, prioritizing profits over the artistic quality of the productions themselves. Transforming movies with large and loyal cult followings into musical versions is an obvious cash grab and takes away from the value of the films.

Musicals themselves are not inherently bad forms of entertainment. Incorporating

meaningful and impactful musical performances into the narrative of a story calls for fantastic writing and a talented cast. Musicals are a celebration of tremendous talent and consistent hard work to maximize the entertainment value of a dramatic production.

The main artistic issue with musicals based on nonmusical movies is the songs generally don’t add much to the plot.

A major part of pieces originally created as musicals, like “Hamilton” and “The Sound of Music,” is that the songs tend to drive the story and provide insights into the plot while also adding a fun singalong element to the film or play.

raking in $130,160,481 in box office sales worldwide. It was quickly considered one of the best teen movies ever made and was dearly beloved by audiences worldwide, which led to a sequel release in 2011.

Then in 2018, a Broadway musical version of “Mean Girls,” also written by Tina

“These songs elaborate far too much on the movie’s classic one-liners, and much like the songs in ‘Mean Girls,’ the musical numbers feel forced and lack the humor of the original movie.”

Musicals based on movies often lack insight and meaning within the songs and have to resort to creating bland filler songs to bring the musical element.

One of the most currently relevant examples of the movie-to-musical phenomenon is Tina Fey’s “Mean Girls.” The movie was an instant cult classic when it was released in 2004,

Fey, was introduced to stages worldwide. The musical gained enough popularity that it was turned into a movie musical earlier this year. However, the musical falls flat because it turns very minute moments in the original movie into drawnout musical numbers, like “Sexy,” in which Karen is

picking out her Halloween costume. Many of the songs in the musical feel like unnecessary filler and take away from the comedic value of the writing.

Another victim of this trend was the 1988 comedy thriller “Heathers.” This movie is a grotesquely funny indie dark comedy that does not compute well into a showy, upbeat musical piece, so the creators of the 2010 Broadway musical version had to take many liberties with the plot, including attempting to redeem the antihero Veronica and making her a less cynical and sadistic character. These plot changes do a great disservice to the original dark comedic movie to make it more palatable.

Another issue with the “Heathers” musical adaptation is the songs themselves. Many of the play’s songs draw from iconically hilarious lines in the original movie, including “I Am Damaged” and “My Dead Gay Son.”

These songs elaborate far too much on the movie’s classic

one-liners, and much like the songs in “Mean Girls,” the musical numbers feel forced and lack the humor of the original movie.

There are plenty more musical remakes produced in both live-action theatrical pieces and movie musicals that bring the same issues, including the new “Wonka” movie starring Timothée Chalamet, which marks the third major movie adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” — one of which already featured numerous musical numbers.

The new “Wonka” attempts to redeem itself by revolving the plot around the titular character’s life before he became a world-renowned chocolate maker but still lacks originality and fills much of the film’s running time with unnecessary musical numbers.

Instead of reusing the same tired ideas that have been thrown around the entertainment industry for decades, Hollywood writers and playwrights alike should return to the drawing board and create new concepts for movies and musicals that are original, intentional and artistically driven. Reach Astrid Thorn at letters@collegian.com.

KAPPA CRAZY

Greek life is a cult on CSU’s campus

By Sophia Masia @csucollegian

Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

The issue with labeling a group as a cult is that its followers rarely ever openly identify as cult members — they’re just members, believers or followers. For the purpose of this article, I’m defining a cult as devotion to a person, idea, object, movement or organization because there’s nothing wrong with devotion.

Those in Greek life at Colorado State University are not miserably trapped and can leave whenever they please, but in my experience, sororities use tactics similar to cults to indoctrinate students and run their organizations. Sororities usually recruit their new members within their first year or two when they’re looking for friends, things to do and somewhere to live after the dorms. Targeting vulnerable individuals and promising to fulfill their needs is at the basis of every religious or social cult.

Students attend a weekendlong interview process of recruitment wherein potential new members fill out an interest indicator, and then they meet with a representative from each sorority on campus who aligns with their interests. Creating a sense of sameness and utilizing girls who love their sorority are crucial to making potential new members feel like they will fit in. The Peoples Temple got a majority of their members by connecting with activists. With the promise of sisterhood, frat parties and a chance to live in a staffed house, students who are selected to move on begin a multiple-week process of training and testing to prove their loyalty.

In these weeks before they sign away thousands of dollars and the right to post whatever they want

on social media, current members begin treating the new members to study dates and sweet treat runs to feel out who will be a good mentor — or big — for each new member. These mentors are announced by a theme party where the littles are showered with gifts. This family tree subgroup ensures new members don’t drop the sorority in the beginning stages. The Moonies, members of a religious movement started by the Unification Church, exemplify how lovebombing college students can be a powerful tactic.

All of this is textbook cult activity. But what actually happens in a sorority that makes it a cult? Ritual. All Greeks center themselves on a ritual — a ceremony consisting of actions in a prescribed order — accompanied with a speech of their values. This ritual might include chants, eating, drinking, handshakes or symbols of the chapter, which are sacred objects that hold significance and represent something central to the chapter. These objects range from simple things like flower petals to a dagger.

This ritual swears each member to complete secrecy and devotion to their cause, so I’m unable to share specifics. But generally, the full ritual is held once a semester and referenced at weekly meetings by the ritualist and the president of the chapter, two of the positions on the board of leadership.

All sorority members are equal, but some are more equal than others. In the Manson Family, leadership was based on who Charles Manson liked the most; in sororities, leadership is based on who has the right connections to the members in charge of electing people to new positions. This is why it’s not uncommon to see a firstyear marketing major elected as president of finance over a thirdyear in accounting.

During recruitment and ritual, new members get their first taste of sorority dress code. This is referred to as formal, badge or chapter attire and consists of business casual with a pin given only to initiated members. This act of control has been

“Members can be rewarded for doing things like demonstrating academic excellence, attending nonmandatory social events, getting in extra volunteer hours or being a supportive sister to another member of the sorority. These rewards don’t come easily, though, as these things are already required.”

used by many cults to take away individuality and promote likeminded thinking. Members of Heaven’s Gate wore all black with black Nike Decade sneakers to symbolize group commitment. And what happens if one doesn’t adhere to the dress code? They’re punished either financially, socially or by an internalized system of points.

While there are repercussions for members’ actions, like the Mary Kay cult or any other good multilevel marketing scheme, there are also rewards. Members can be rewarded for doing things like demonstrating academic excellence, attending nonmandatory social events, getting in extra volunteer hours or being a supportive sister to another member of the sorority. These

rewards don’t come easily, though, as these things are already required. Between weekly meetings, required social and philanthropy events, volunteer hours, study hours based on GPA — yes, they check GPA and grades — and ritual practice, good luck trying to go above and beyond to earn back any points you’ve lost.

I could go on to discuss Founders Day, which is an event dedicated to worshiping the founder of one’s sorority; social pressure; financial commitments; and more, but you get the point. Greek life is a benign cult on campus dedicated to turning out respectable members of society by graduation.

Reach Sophia Masia at letters@collegian.com.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY JANUSZEWSKI THE COLLEGIAN

Drive a Subaru? Congrats — you’re in a cult

By Emma Souza @_emmasouza

Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

Subaru drivers have formed a cult, and I have been inducted. There’s a whole bunch of stereotypes about Coloradans that

range from inaccurate to spot on.

People here are supposed to be adrenaline junkies, nature freaks and Patagonia obsessed. No stereotype, however, is as perfectly detailed and beautifully accurate as Colorado, the Subaru-driving state.

Moving here for the first time this past August was like being transported straight into a Subaru car dealership.

My family and I flew down Interstate 70 surrounded by blurs of Crosstreks

and Foresters, each branded with the most absurd bumper stickers we’d ever seen: “Don’t tailgate me — I’ll bite!” or, “Just trying my best,” accompanied by a picture of a crying cat.

My dad drove practically 20 miles an hour over the speed limit, but every Subaru driver was going at least 15 mph faster than us. They’d sneak a glance as they passed, eyes glinting with mischief, engine revving in sync with a booming sound system.

That was when my dad knew. Three months later, when his Ram truck irreversibly broke down, I came home for Thanksgiving break to see a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek sitting in the garage in its place.

The initiation happens fast: One minute we were a family with regular cars, and the next we were Subaru owners. This change did not go unnoticed; every time I drove the

car, I couldn’t go a single trip without some rando singing praise: “I love mine!” or, “Do you like yours?” or, “She’s so durable.”

“If another owner is there at the same time, my aunt and the driver will trade knowing looks and laugh in some secret, elitist code I don’t yet know.”

These conversations happened outside a grocery store, in a nail salon and even at the gym. I couldn’t go to my friend’s house — an assumed safe haven — without her parents noticing the hottie parked in the driveway.

I would assume having a Subaru would be normalized in Colorado

because almost every other person drives one. But no, it’s even worse out here. I actually think that Subaru drivers have formed a genuine cult. Every time I go on a hike with my aunt who drives a Crosstrek, we have trouble finding which is ours in the parking lot afterward. And if another owner is there at the same time, my aunt and the driver will trade knowing looks and laugh in some secret, elitist code I don’t yet know. “Just another day of being a Subaru driver!”

Like most cults, the Subaru one is impossible to leave. Every Subaru driver I’ve met is insistent on driving these cars for the rest of their life. The two are soul tied. Subaru drivers also don’t know when to quit; regardless of how banged-up, flat-tired or sputter-engined the car is, they will drive it until it’s on its last legs — or tires. If that thing is driven off a cliff into the ocean, I think they would rather drown with their Subaru than try to escape.

Reach Emma Souza at letters@collegian.com.

Congrats, Class of 2024!

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY PRESTON BOX THE COLLEGIAN

Cultish fandoms are unwelcoming, polarizing

By Hana Pavelko @hanasolo13

Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

People flock to the theaters, desperately trying to buy tickets for opening night so they can claim they were one of the first ones to see it. Some wear their official merch shirts with the movie poster on them; some wear costumes they spent weeks on to ensure that each detail was correct. Everyone stocks up on popcorn and candy so they can stay until the very end of the movie because are you really a fan if you leave before the end-credits scene?

And all of this is just for the premiere of the latest Marvel movie.

“Large fandoms can have varying opinions on the newest content supplied by their favorite franchise, which results in the polarization of the fandom.”

Movies, television shows and books offer a great escape from reality. Fans love to discuss their favorite scenes and characters. When

you get into these fandoms, the people within them start to feel like friends and family who you can connect with over your favorite media. With opportunities such as Comic-Con available to meet other fans of your favorite franchises, it is easier than ever for fandoms to thrive and grow.

But what happens when you’re on the outside of these fandoms?

Larger franchises like Marvel, Star Wars and DC have dedicated fan bases — maybe too dedicated. Fans of these franchises can get extremely intense. People invest time and money into cosplay, rewatch movies and episodes hundreds of times to catch every little hidden reference and even save up to attend Comic-Con every year.

If you are just a casual fan who does not participate in every aspect of the franchise, it can seem as if you are not accepted by the rest of the fandom. If you do not read the comics and watch everything associated with your chosen fandom, then the rest of the fans will not accept you as a real fan. This leads to casual fans being ostracized if they do not meet certain requirements due to the cultish behavior of fandoms. This cultish behavior makes fandoms unwelcoming for casual or newer fans. Fandoms are supposed to be a way for all

fans

Not only do cultish fandoms dissuade people from getting into franchises, but their attitudes can also cause division within a fandom. Large fandoms can have varying opinions on the newest content supplied by their favorite franchise, which results in the polarization of the fandom. People are unwilling to be swayed from their opinions and do not accept the differing opinions of other fans. The polarization of large

fandoms also makes them unwelcoming to newer fans.

The cultlike behavior of fandoms needs to stop. No matter how invested someone is, everyone should be allowed to enjoy and participate in franchises. Whether you are a new fan or have been a fan since the beginning, everyone should be accepted by others who like what they like. Fandoms should not be about who is right or knowing everything about a movie but rather about the love of the franchise.

Reach Hana Pavelko at letters@collegian.com.

to celebrate and enjoy what a franchise offers them. However, more intense fans deter people from getting into certain franchises with cultish fandoms.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CADEN PROULX THE COLLEGIAN

Say goodbye to 3 years of short-form content Milo Gladstein | Photo Director

By Milo Gladstein @gladsteinmilo

Editor’s Note: Traditionally, graduating seniors working at The Collegian are given the chance to write a farewell note at the end of their tenure at CSU.

I have spent five years at Colorado State University, and I feel like I’ve lived twice as many lives in that time — the climbing team; the music scene; horticulture; fish, wildlife and conservation biology; and so many more. I have had four different majors and been a part of clubs, teams, communities and more. Like most of us, I found The Collegian through a speech from Jake Sherlock,

wandered into the newsroom three years ago, met my best friends and never left.

The Collegian photo desk took me in as a photographer and spit me out as a photojournalist. During my three years here, I have learned so much about photography, journalism, myself, leadership and the world. But most importantly,  The

Collegian gave me a family. Luke Bourland, Tri Duong, Lucy Morantz and the entire staff instantly took me in as one of their own and led me through the steps of how to visually tell a story.

I was taught how to deal with sensitive topics, hard-to-handle stories and everything in between. Starting out as a confused photographer, I slowly figured out how to transfer those skills into photojournalism and share some incredible stories. For my last year, I took over as co-photo director, something I initially did not want to do but am so glad I did. Taking a management position taught me the inner workings of the newspaper, how to lead a team and how to be a good teacher. I have hired people, led desk meetings and done more that I thought I would never do.

I have done things I never thought possible during my time here. I have been to X Games and Dew Tour and shot photos of Shaun White and other Olympic athletes. I’ve been to protests that have been written in history, on the frontline of wildfires and onstage with some incredible bands. I have spent literal years of my life embedding myself into communities different from my own and giving a voice to people who would have not had one otherwise.

One of the things I have loved most about The Collegian besides the people I got to work with is the freedom to pursue long-form stories. This is where I have learned the most about journalism and the world. My favorite part of my job is taking a crazy idea, devoting my entire existence to that idea for sometimes even a whole year and coming out the other side with an incredible story about a person, way of life or community that would have never been seen otherwise. These stories have led me all over the state of Colorado, from farms in Palisade to rodeos in the farthest corners of the state I never even knew existed. These stories have shaped how I view the world and how I interact with people forever.

In the middle of both my first and sophomore years, I almost dropped out on multiple occasions. My father told me to stick with it, and I would eventually stumble upon something I never knew existed. Staying at CSU was the best decision I ever made. It led me to my Collegian family and the crazy world of journalism.

As we said at X Games at 3 a.m. after almost getting kidnapped, “Not going to remember this tomorrow.”

Milo Gladstein was the 2023-24 photo director of The Rocky Mountain Collegian. He can no longer be reached at photo@collegian.com, but he can be reached on Twitter @gladsteinmilo.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MILO GLADSTEIN

LEGACY DESK

All my love to The Collegian Lauren Pallemaerts | Executive Editor

By Lauren Pallemaerts @lpallemaerts

Editor’s Note: Traditionally, graduating seniors working at The Collegian are given the chance to write a farewell note at the end of their tenure at CSU.

Joining The Rocky Mountain Collegian changed the trajectory of my college experience. I started at Colorado State University as a chronically introverted English major during the height of the pandemic in 2020, and I was quickly convinced by the journalism department and Rocky Mountain Student Media staff to switch my major and jump headfirst into a 132-yearlong legacy of journalism by students, for students.

I had no other choice; The Collegian is full of the brightest, most driven, goofiest, most creative students at CSU, and no one could want anything more than to be one of them. The first few faces to greet me on this campus — besides the employees handing me a plastic COVID-19 test vial to spit into on a weekly basis — were the smiling eyes of Collegian staffers above their masks. The Collegian was a home to me when I had just moved away from mine; the sense of community it offers is what the college experience is all about.

On my very first shift as a copy editor for The Collegian, I flagged an advertisement that read, “Mountian Chruch.” We don’t edit ads, but we called the church to get an updated version in time for the paper to go to print later that night. While I may or may not have been chasing that high ever since, I will stand by my biased opinion that the copy desk is tasked with one of the highest responsibilities of all: being the newspaper’s last line of defense against misinformation, inaccessibility and, yes, typos.

To anyone who’s ever received a correction or

revision from me, I can promise they were full of love, and I was continually inspired by the reporting from each desk. Watching the arts and culture desk split into two vibrant and equally essential desks; the inception of our science desk; and the sports desk’s expansion into extensive recap coverage and a new newsletter all remind me how much change I’ve seen The Collegian benefit from during my tenure. You’re all amazing.

Working for student media is the best thing you can do for yourself — professionally and personally. Holding a management position has tied me inextricably to this newspaper. I’ll be pinching myself for years to come that I played a role in election reporting, protest coverage and the most defensible satire on my college campus, even getting to hand-deliver our special April Fools’ edition this year. Keep the tradition going.

It’s been a privilege to work alongside talented reporters, editors and glowing human beings

Allie Seibel and Ivy Secrest, and print directors Caden Proulx and Nathan Carmody astounded me with their masterpiece designs every production night. I will cherish every night in that newsroom under string lights when we usually (always) wanted to gab rather than work — until deadlines got in the way.

I can’t forget the illustrious legacy of night editors that shaped me into the editor I’m graduating as. Renee Ziel and Rachel Baschnagel are two of the most stunningly

accomplished creatives I know, and I want them to know they continue to be role models of mine — I will always look up to them wherever I end up next.

Now for the hardest goodbye: To my copy editors who are reading this long before it publishes, I hope you know how much you mean to me. Mentoring the same desk that I joined three and a half years ago has far surpassed anything else as the highlight of my college experience. Training recently became my favorite part of my job, hammering home all our Associated Press Style

and fact-checking rules to the point that I’ve now arrived at: I’m ready to leave The Collegian in good hands.

To Emma Ward, Lexi Urbom and Proulx, it’s been a privilege to watch you all leave your mark on The Collegian You’ve made the newsroom a lovely place to be. To Will Engle, you’d do well to remember your allegiance to copy in your years ahead, which I’m sure will be full of successes wherever you land. To Claire Vogl and Adah McMillan, the copy desk couldn’t be in better hands next year. I’ve watched you all grow into exemplary editors and beautiful friends.

I’ll miss the hundreds of long weeknights spent surrounded by some of CSU’s finest student journalists. Now it feels like they were never long enough. Working four nights a week in a basement wasn’t so bad when it was with you. I’ll miss you guys.

Lauren Pallemaerts was the 2023-24 executive editor of The Rocky Mountain Collegian. She can no longer be reached at copy@collegian.com, but she can be reached on Twitter  @lpallemaerts.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LAUREN PALLEMAERTS

LEGACY DESK

A letter to my 1st-year self

Ivy Secrest | Content Managing Editor

By Ivy Secrest @ivysecrest

Editor’s Note: Traditionally, graduating seniors working at The Collegian are given the chance to write a farewell note at the end of their tenure at CSU.

The Collegian has been the most time consuming, dedicated and oddly rewarding relationship of my college career. I’ve spent more nights with  The Collegian than any partner and written more Slack messages

and articles than papers or presentations.

Even with the time commitment, this organization and its members have given me four years of immense joy. Growing up, I wrote letters to my future self, asking the big questions like, “Who was your first kiss?” and, “Do we ever travel to Paris?” Looking back, I can think of no better way to reflect on my time at The Collegian than writing a letter to my first-year self.

I don’t know if I could ever convince her of just how

much she would grow within this organization, but I can at least try.

To a first-year girl, sitting alone in Newsom Hall, I want to reassure you that you will find a place on this campus. I know right now you are feeling isolated, wondering whether attending college is really worth weekly COVID-19 testing. I know you’re hyperfixated on the searing memory of standing hunched over a trash can to drool into a test tube in front of countless equally horrified peers. I can’t promise

you’ll ever forget those exceptionally unique and awkward moments, but I can promise that through it all, you will find people with whom you can share your best stories.

In the basement of the Lory Student Center, there’s a musty newsroom decorated with suspicious furniture and old computers that only fail when you need to meet a deadline. In your first year writing for The Collegian, you’ll barely visit, but the room smells like fresh ink on paper and will quickly become a second home.

Reporting for The Collegian will take you beyond campus into Fort Collins and beyond. It will introduce you to local businesses and social movements in ways you otherwise never would have seen. You’ll speak with artists and get to know the deep and emotional stories behind your peers as they deal with the broader world. Being a reporter will become an integral part of your identity. You’ll quickly forget what it was like to be scared to approach strangers, and writing ledes will become second nature.

Beyond the obvious education piece, you are going to meet some of your favorite people. I know you best — you’re a reluctant and forgiving optimist, a socially anxious extrovert and a genuinely kind friend. You’ll meet people who make you question that, people who make you believe that you don’t care and people who say that you’re simply too much. None of them will be journalism kids, and that’s

the beauty of this place. The people at The Collegian are kind, funny and vivacious and will serve as the type of friends who fix things they don’t even realize are broken. They’re a friend to everyone until given reason not to be. They are open minded and curious, just like you.

You’ll bond in a delirious state over meeting deadlines, learning about astrology and investing excess time in celebrity gossip. You’ll consume heart damageinducing levels of Dutch Bros and spill endless secrets over margaritas at the Rio Grande. You will become a walking vault full of intimate details regarding love, life, family and loss for many of your peers. You’ll inspire phrases like, “Trauma dump in The Stump,” and will finally have a place to publish your firestarting opinions.

I know that you’ll appreciate it, and while you are more likely to run from a bad feeling than toward it, I also know that by the end of your time here, you’ll consider yourself lucky to be so sad to leave a place. Genuinely missing something is a demonstration of love, and you do love these people. I don’t know where you’ll end up — I don’t even know if this will be your forever career — I just know that no matter how odd it was, you will love your college experience. With love,

The version of you who made it to graduation Ivy Secrest was the 2023-24 content managing editor of The Rocky Mountain Collegian. She can no longer be reached at managingeditor@collegian. com, but she can be reached on Twitter @ivysecrest.

PHOTO COURTESY OF IVY SECREST

Goodbye, The Collegian, you absolute beaut Emma Ward | Copy Editor

By Emma Ward

Editor’s Note: Traditionally, graduating seniors working at The Collegian are given the chance to write a farewell note at the end of their tenure at CSU.

Fresh on Colorado State University’s campus, I was chatting with Bella Eckburg — former opinion editor at The Collegian — when she convinced me over the course of two weeks to apply for a position at the newspaper. I was studying linguistics, so I decided to try out copy editing. I knew nothing about journalism, newswriting or copy editing. I expected it all to be in a dull, boring space with stuffy, scary people. What I wasn’t expecting to find among the Associated Press Stylebook, WordPress and LinkedIn tabs was a collection of astoundingly funny, touching and often out-of-pocket moments I got to share with the amazing staff of The Collegian

Not only did I learn why we hate the Oxford comma and to always double-check a last name, but I gained so much knowledge of journalism and the world of media that I wouldn’t have had available to me otherwise, cornered away in linguistics with my etymology and syntax. I am eternally grateful for my poor co-workers — who are mostly journalism majors — for answering all of my very clueless questions about journalistic ethics. And thank

you to Claire Vogl, who held my hand as we wrote my very first published article about our shared love of country music that slays.

I had the utmost pleasure of endless Coke runs to CAM’s Lobby Shop, country serenades, group personality quizzes, outings to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and being an optimistic horror to my fellow print production night coworkers. They are the reason I enjoy Wednesdays.

Even the goblins in the corner — my beloved page designers — I’ve loved every chaotic moment arguing about gay icons, throwing glitter and talking about “Twilight.” You are monsters, and I love you. To Allie Seibel and Ivy Secrest, I don’t know how you stand them, but bless you for surviving their hurricane of hyper-pop music and screaming. You two are some of the most driven, kind and intelligent women I’ve met in this field. You’re gonna go far, kids.

A spine-rattling nod of love to Lauren Pallemaerts, who, from my very first shift at The Collegian, encouraged me as I sat shaking in fear of missing an error and I have had the pleasure of growing a lovely friendship with. I cannot wait to see what badass adventures life is holding for you and to hear you share them over a cup of tea. Life is crazy, innit?

To The Collegian — everyone who sat in the newsrooms Wednesday nights and listened to Vogl and I sing the widest variety of ballads, Eckburg for encouraging me, Pallemaerts for hiring me and everyone who has ever picked up a

copy of our paper — thank you for letting me live out this beautiful and hilarious chapter of my life.

P.S. For the copy desk: I adore eating Thai food with you. Thank you for giving me a seat at the table and in your lives. I love it there.

P.P.S. Adah McMillan, I will always watch your presentations. Thank you for nerding out with me, always.  Emma Ward was a copy editor for The Rocky Mountain Collegian. She can no longer be reached at copy@collegian.com.

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMMA WARD

Sudoku

WEEKLY HOROSCOPE

By Abby Flores

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (05/02/24)

ARIES (MARCH 21 - APRIL 19)

People from your past may have popped up over the course of the Mercury retrograde. If this sparked any conversations, the universe is allowing you to either renew something with them or simply let go. Trust your intuition, and all will be OK.

Song of the week: “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers TAURUS (APRIL 20 - MAY 20)

You’re killing it with your style this week, Taurus. Those spring colors look amazing on you, and people have been noticing your confidence. Venus is your ruling planet, so continue to embrace your beauty.

Song of the week: “Where This Flower Blooms (feat. Frank Ocean)” by Tyler, The Creator GEMINI (MAY 21 - JUNE 20)

Life has its downs sometimes, but you’re pushing forward and doing what you can to stay positive through all situations. You have protection from the universe at this time and will be successful by simply being your authentic self.

Song of the week: “TROUBLE” by 347aidan  CANCER (JUNE 21 - JULY 22)

You have a nurturing side to you and are protective of those you love. People appreciate how you stand up for others when needed. You hold your ground, and that is respected in all areas of life. This week, more people will recognize you and your heart.

Song of the week: “Edition” by Rex Orange County LEO (JULY 23 - AUG. 22)

You are brave, Leo, because you are not afraid of what people think of you. Keep shining as bright as the sun. You bring positive energy everywhere you go, and because of this, multiple secret admirers have been wanting to approach you.

Song of the week: “NO HAY LEY” by Kali Uchis

VIRGO (AUG. 23 - SEPT. 22)

One of your many gifts is writing, Virgo, and you should use it to express yourself more. Getting thoughts out on paper will help you process things that happen in your everyday life, and it will translate outwardly as you build relationships.

Song of the week: “Tip Toe” by HYBS

LIBRA (SEPT. 23 - OCT. 22)

You are a free spirit, Libra, and will get the chance to be outdoors a lot this week. You deserve it and need to prioritize self-care right now. Breaks are important, and you work a lot, so allow the universe to reciprocate the love you give to your projects by embracing alone time.

Song of the week: “So Free” by Alex Serra

SCORPIO (OCT. 23 - NOV. 21)

You are in a new era of life, Scorpio. Whether you have to

let go of a partner, situation or job, it’s up to you to build new relationships and create the environment you want to be in. Handle things with grace, and all will turn out fine.

Song of the Week: “Duvet” by bôa

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 - DEC. 21)

A new person who wants to support you is coming into your life this week. This could be platonic or romantic. Whatever the case, their happiness will be contagious, and you’ll develop a good relationship with them.

Song of the week: “Midnight Rain” by Taylor Swift

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 - JAN. 19)

You are strategic and have been learning to apply that to your habits. You’ve been getting to know yourself better by writing things down and recognizing the beauty of being in the present moment.

Song of the week: “Beggin’” by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 - FEB. 18)

You are a social butterfly and love being around people, but you may start to notice this tends to take essential work time away from you. Learning to find balance in this is key.

Song of the week: “Alien Love Call” by Turnstile, BADBADNOTGOOD and Blood Orange PISCES (Feb. 19 - March 20) Keep being you, Pisces, because your peaceful nature always lights up a room. You have a natural way of keeping certain environments calm, and it’s appreciated by those who love and care about you.

Song of the week: “earth boy” by Tony22

Last edition’s crossword solution

Last edition’s sudoku solution

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OVERHEARD AROUND CAMPUS